Anglers appreciate that the likelihood of success when fishing can be increased by fishing areas which provide cover for fish and in particular, appreciate that the likelihood of success is increased by fishing such areas of cover as beds of weeds and grass or underwater brush. These areas, however, can be difficult to fish with conventional lures having exposed hooks, typically treble hooks, since the hooks are prone to snagging of weeds, grass, branches or the like which may require cleaning snagged material from the hooks after each cast or if the lure has become snagged upon a fixed structure, the lure may even be lost.
To facilitate fishing in such areas, various lures have been developed which enclose the hook within the lure when casting and retrieving to prevent the occurrence of undesirable snags. Such lures are commonly referred to as "weedless" fishing lures which lures thereby expose the hook upon the strike of a fish.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,896,355 discloses a "weedless" lure having a slidable shaft to which deformable hooks are secured. The shaft is forwardly slidable within the body of the lure which causes deformation of the hooks as they are retracted into the lure body. The shaft thereafter is restrained in position by two elongated strips oriented transverse to the slidable shaft and disposed on opposite sides thereof so as to seat within corresponding notches on the shaft and prevent movement of the slidable shaft. To spread the elongated strips apart and release the shaft, a mechanism is disposed sidewardly from the shaft which mechanism includes a cone-shaped wedge which moves between the strips to bias the strips apart upon an increase in tension in the fishing line.
Such an arrangement, however, uses a separate mechanism for spreading the strips which mechanism is disposed sidewardly of the shaft. In addition, the mechanism includes a short length of line extending between the main fishing line and the actuating mechanism to pull the wedge between the strips which length of line is exposed outside the body of the lure and may be prone to snagging. Still further, this lure also requires flexibility within the hooks to permit their retraction into the body of the lure which flexibility is an undesirable feature in a fish hook.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a "weedless" fishing lure wherein the locking mechanism for holding the hook in a retracted position has a limited number of component parts which are contained entirely within the body of the lure. It is further desirable that the locking mechanism lock the hook in a retracted position while at the same time being itself positively restrained in the locking condition. Preferably, both the hook and the locking mechanism are released in response to an increase in tension in the fishing line. Still further, it is desirable that such a "weedless" fishing lure use conventional hooks, typically treble hooks, having a relatively high rigidity to facilitate embedding of the hook within the mouth of a potentially trophy size fish being caught thereby.